Cleveland woman accused of poisoning fiance with antifreeze found guilty

Jen Steer, newsnet5.com

2:01 PM, Jul 24, 2013

6:05 PM, Jul 24, 2013

The woman accused of poisoning her fiancé with antifreeze was found guilty on Wednesday.

WEWS

WEWS

Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

CLEVELAND - The woman accused of poisoning her fiancé with antifreeze was found guilty on Wednesday.

Holly McFeeture, 35, added antifreeze to Matthew Podolak's tea, which he drank each day, prosecutors said. On July 20, 2006, Podolak, 31, went to the doctor for lower back pain and was treated for kidney stones, then died the next day.

Podolak's older brother Mark pushed hard over the years to get police and prosecutors to take a closer look at the case. After the verdict was read Wednesday he said his efforts were worth it.

"Somebody needed to speak for my brother because he's not here to speak for himself and he would have done the same thing for me," he said.

"Somewhere he is smiling down and hopefully he's proud of his big brother right now."

The couple lived together on Archmere Avenue in Cleveland with their two children, ages 2 and 6 months, as well as McFeeture's 8-year-old from another relationship.

His family looks forward to seeing Samantha, 9 and Joshua, 7.

"I'd love to see them again," said Matthew's father Len. "I haven't seen Joshua since he was 6 months old."

McFeeture was arrested on July 26, 2012 for aggravated murder and contaminating substance for human consumption.

Testimony in the trial included a former boyfriend of McFeeture's Jamison Kennedy who said McFeeture told him at one time she had put something in Podolak's drink.

"I think the testimony of Jamison Kennedy really helped. I think that was the thing," said Mark. "Nobody else would have known about this case accept him."

Mark Podolak said the verdict gives his family the chance to do something they haven't been able to do since his brother's death, truly grieve.

"I think all of us collectively as a family are going to do that," he said. "I'll tell you I'm going to go to the cemetery on my way home to say a little prayer, tell my little brother I tried to do some good for him."

McFeeture faces a sentence of life in prison.

Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.